Discussion

The Internet has emerged as a great equalizer in respect of global information access, access to global markets and gender equality (Hoffman, 1998). However, as shown in Table 3, not all national portals are the same. Color combinations, contents and level of details vary. Religion and politics are not profiled in all of the national portals. Women's issues do not receive much attention, either. However, in many countries, immigration to the West is a very significant process of social mobility and this is reflected in their national portals. Such countries have large expatriate communities. For example, Indian communities abroad can keep in touch with the latest gossip from the movie industry in Bombay (Bollywood) and about other celebrities. Arranged marriage is common in India and thus, as expected, matrimonial advertisements are prominent in their national portals. (In other cultures, the focus may be on dating rather than marriage.) Obtaining stock quotes is a common feature in many countries, while others do not have this option. The reason may be partially technical; obtaining real-time quotes may be difficult in less developed countries. Levels of stock ownership will also vary. Many countries have key national sports (e.g., cricket in India, soccer in Europe and Latin America, etc.) highlighted. Access to erotica and sex-related entertainment varies greatly from country to country. Central and Eastern Europe are more open, while even Yahoo! has avoided this area.

The color of hyperlinks is set to blue as the default in many software packages (e.g., FrontPage). Since this software package (a product of the USA) is perhaps the backbone of the Web technology commonly adopted by other countries, text links are overwhelmingly blue. In Table 3, we list any dominant color other than the hyperlink's blue. However, there are instances when color of the portal truly reflects a national color. For example, purple orchid is the national color of Thailand (e.g., Thai Airways), and this color dominates the Thailand.com portal. Similarly, green dominates the Pakistani portal and 123India has shades of saffron.

Yahoo!, which is a leading free American full-size portal, has apparently been followed en masse both in design and diversity of contents. AOL is also another comprehensive full-service portal, but available only to those who have a paid subscription to access it. AOL's design is different and technically more complex. We have not found any free national portal that uses a design similar to AOL.

Hofstede's Dimensions

Hofstede's (1980) initial research resulted in the identification of four cultural dimensions:

  • Power Distance

  • Individualism—Collectivism

  • Masculine—Feminine

  • Uncertainty Avoidance

A fifth dimension was subsequently added (Hofstede, 1991) relating to Long-term versus Short-term orientation. Hofstede's (1991) tables on Power-Distance (p. 26), Individualism (p. 53), Masculinity (p. 84), Uncertainty Avoidance (p. 113) and Long-Term Orientation (p. 166) were combined to create Table 4. The Rank shown in Table 4 is based on the original tables, which contain many more entries than the summary table provided here. When scores are tied (e.g., Argentina and Japan are both 26 on the Individualism-Collectivism measure), this is shown as a shared ranking (e.g., 22/23). The Long-Term Orientation dimension has not been included in our analysis because of the lack of available data from Hofstede's research related to the cultures reviewed in our research project.

Table 4: Hofstede's indices of cultural dimensions (a selected sample)

PORTALS

PDI

 

IDV

 

MAS

 

UAI

 

LTO

 
 

Rank

Score

Rank

Score

Rank

Score

Rank

Score

Rank

Score

Argentina

35/36

49

22/23

46

20/21

56

10/15

86

  

Australia

41

36

2

90

16

61

37

51

15

31

Belgium

20

65

8

75

22

54

5/6

94

  

Brazil

14

69

26/27

38

27

49

21/22

76

6

65

Canada

39

39

4/5

80

24

52

41/42

48

20

23

China

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

118

Costa Rica

42/44

35

46

15

48/49

21

10/15

86

  

Egypt

          

France

15/16

68

10/11

71

35/36

43

10/15

86

  

Germany

42/44

35

15

67

9/10

66

29

65

  

Ghana

          

India

10/11

77

21

48

20/21

56

45

40

7

61

Indonesia

8/9

78

47/48

14

30/31

46

41/42

48

  

Israel

52

13

19

54

29

47

19

81

-

-

Italy

34

50

7

76

4/5

70

23

75

  

Japan

33

54

22/23

46

1

95

7

92

4

80

Malaysia

1

104

36

26

25/26

50

46

36

  

Mexico

5/6

81

32

30

6

69

18

82

  

Morocco

          

Netherlands

40

38

4/5

80

51

14

35

53

10

44

Philippines

4

94

31

32

11/12

64

44

44

21

19

Poland

        

13

32

Russia

          

Spain

31

57

20

51

37/38

42

10/15

86

  

Sweden

47/48

31

10/11

71

53

5

49/50

29

12

33

United Kingdom

42/44

35

3

89

9/10

66

47/48

35

18

25

Power Distance

The first of Hofstede's dimensions to be employed to analyze our data is Power Distance. This dimension relates to a culture's willingness to accept a difference in power over other members of the culture. Thus, high Power Distance cultures tend to be willing to accept differences in the distribution of power across cultural members. However, low Power Distance cultures will strive for an equal distribution of power. Examples from our data include the Philippines and Costa Rica, as shown in Table 5.

Table 5: Power difference examples
 

Rank

Score

Philippines

4

94

Costa Rica

42/44

35

Thus, according to Hofstede, The Philippines is considered a high Power Distance culture, and members are willing to accept a difference in power distribution. Evidence of this is found on The Philippines' portal relating to the Extra Features noted in our data. This national portal provides the unique service of shopping for Filipinos working abroad. It should be noted that a vast number of Filipinos work outside of The Philippines and gain economic power through salaries that are significantly higher than those that are paid in The Philippines. Indeed, it is common for university-trained Filipinos to work as domestic helpers throughout Asia.

Costa Rica, however, is a low Power Distance culture on Hofstede's dimension, and members will strive for an equal distribution of power within the culture. Once again, evidence of this is found in the Extra Features section of the Costa Rica portal. Links are provided to information about Costa Rican culture and history. These links represent evidence of the country's willingness to equally share the information about itself.

Individualism—Collectivism

Within this dimension, Hofstede suggests that members of Individualistic cultures will tend to be independent and will feel responsible for looking after themselves. Collectivist cultures, however, will include members who maintain a series of close interpersonal relations and who feel a social obligation to do so. These relationships and obligations are most often manifest in extended families.

Australia and Indonesia represent interesting examples from our data, as shown in Table 6.

Table 6: Individualism-collectivism examples
 

Rank

Score

Australia

2

90

Indonesia

47/48

14

As an Individualistic culture, Australians would tend to act more independently. Evidence of this action is found in our data, which lists those items not included on their portal. That is, items such as Women's Issues, Religion, and Personals are noted as absent on the Australian portal. These items, in general, represent ways of bringing people together. Thus, Australians, according to this Hofstede dimension, do not feel the necessity to provide these group oriented services on their national portal.

Indonesia is considered a Collectivist culture from the perspective of Hofstede's dimension and members will attempt to maintain strong family ties. Evidence of this is found in the Extra Features section of our data. Here a link is provided for Children's Stories. This represents evidence of an attempt to provide, via their national portal, a family-oriented activity.

Masculine—Feminine

This dimension, Hofstede suggests, relates to the quality, rather than quantity, of life. Thus, Masculine cultures emphasize assertiveness and achievement, while Feminine cultures emphasize harmony and caring. Contrasting cultures are Japan and Sweden, as shown in Table 7.

Table 7: Masculine-feminine examples
 

Rank

Score

Japan

1

95

Sweden

53

5

An example from our data is on the following page.

Uncertainty Avoidance

Hofstede suggests that cultures will vary according to the members' willingness to deal with uncertainty. Thus, strong Uncertainty Avoidance cultures will adopt strict rules and codes of behavior in order to reduce the uncertainty encountered in daily activities. However, weak Uncertainty Avoidance cultures will adopt a less controlled approach. The example from our data, as above, includes both Japan and Sweden as shown in Table 8.

Table 8: Uncertainty avoidance examples
 

Rank

Score

Japan

7

92

Sweden

49/50

29

In both the dimensions of Masculine - Feminine and Uncertainty Avoidance, Japan has been rated as Masculine and strong Uncertainty Avoidance. Thus, according to Hofstede, the Japanese culture would include members who would tend to emphasize achievement within relatively strict codes of behavior. Evidence of this is found in the Extra Features section of our data. Here, specifically, the Japanese portal lists such links as Personal Finance, Real Estate, and Marriage Planning. These links represent the presentation of a common approach to what could be considered the most important activities an individual will engage in throughout the lives. The portal is suggesting a common approach to these important activities.

Another perspective that can be employed to analyze the data is by topic. This results in the emergence of two topic themes relating to Sports and Erotica. National portals with Sports links include Malaysia, The Netherlands, and Spain. These cultures when viewed using Hofstede's dimensions all score quite highly masculine on the Masculine - Feminine dimension. In general, sports are associated with activities that are more masculine.

National portals containing Erotica links include Argentina, Belgium, Germany, and The Netherlands. In this case, these cultures are ranked relatively high (in comparison to the other dimensions) on Hofstede's Power - Distance dimension.



Managing Globally with Information Technology
Managing Globally with Information Technology
ISBN: 193177742X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 224

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